Hand Study

6"x6" oil

This was a great exercise to get me back in to painting.  It was offered as a DPW challenge by Claudia Hammer. I chose three values in different colors and a background color.  I painted on a panel that I had previously painted on and sanded down.  The colors were pretty dark originally so even with the sanding, it showed through and gave variation to the background which I blocked in first, thus removing the distraction.  I started with the lightest light (Jaune Brilliant) then the darkest color in the hands (Alizarian Crimson) and then used Cadmium Orange for the mid-value.  I mixed a bit to come up with the suggestion of the sleeve.  I deliberately tried to keep it loose and simple.

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Attitude

16"x20" acrylic

I am back from traveling and ready to paint!  This is a demo for a beginners class at the Chaffee Art Center.   Everyone had a good time and some really nice paintings came out of it.  I focused on creating the design using geometric shapes and how to create varying brushwork.  When I do these demos I don't feel like I am painting subject matter that is most exciting to me, rather I try and choose a few things that offer teachable moments and subjects that are interesting and simple enough to not be intimidating.  I am still refining how I do this; the learning curve for me seems to be infinite!  On another note, I went to Washington, D.C., a city of abundant free museums and excellent artwork!

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Rooster

16"x20" acrylic

This is a painting I did in planning for the class I am teaching June 12 at the Chaffee Art Center.  I went pretty abstract with the front lower and right sides, with the suggestion of foliage.  I planned it out mathematically first which was different and fun.  Click here for the demo slideshow.

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Patterned Pears

8"x8" acrylic

This painting was inspired by Nancy Colella's patterned painting exercises.  I am not sure I got it right, but it was fun to try and I do like the graphic effect.  The idea is to flatten the colors and values so that they are represented by a specific shape and then use lines to add compositional interest.  I think I will try this again tomorrow.

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Lobster Buoys

8"x8" oil

I have not painted as much as I would like but I have been artistically busy.  I went to the Vermont Arts Council retreat for 2 days this week on the invitation of the Director, Carol Driscoll, of The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center and not only got to stay the very cool Grand Isle Lake House, but also got to meet and see how the minds of some very smart and creative people work.  I did a demo for the Chaffee Art Center Open Studio event this past weekend.  So my question is:  how loose is too loose?  In the above painting, I kept it very loose because I wanted to pack up and go home.  The environment was challenging for me because there were some significant distractions,  I thought about working on it some more in my studio, but the more I looked at it the more I liked it as is.  I know what I painted (lobster buoys hanging from a rack which also holds an inverted row boat).  At first I was really interested in the shadows and light falling across the rowboat, but then the dancing shapes of the buoys just looked so cool to me that cut loose of the highlights on the boat.  I also thought that more detail would only confuse the composition.  Anyway, I would love to know what you think!

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Memorial Day

As I promised on my blog and Facebook page I am giving away 3 abstract paintings this month. I printed up the names of folks who signed up for my newsletter and put those in one pile. Another pile was for those of you who liked my Facebook Fanpage or Friended me, and finally if you made a comment on my blog, or subscribed to it, you were entered for the third give-away.  I took all of the names and randomly drew one for each painting.  Unbelievably when I drew the name for the newsletter, it was ME! Seriously, I forgot I was the first person to sign up for my own newsletter and I won!  Well obviously that won't work, so I disqualified myself, and all my relatives (sorry).  Next time I am going to use one of those services that chooses names randomly! So, here are the winners:  Scott Garren,  the next one is Celia Blanco, and finally, the last painting goes to Linda McBain.  Thanks you for participating and I hope you enjoyed my newsletter!

I am auctioning a painting to aid Oklahoma tornado recovery efforts.  Go here to see painting or to bid.

Queue

8"x10" oil

I have been busy (who isn't) having my biannual panic attack about having too much stuff and needing to purge.  It is easy to avoid the process because it is so time consuming and there's no tangible benefit until everything is organized, at the dump or donation shop.  Art supplies are my worst offense because I always think I need everything.  My big goal (along with the millions of drawers, closets, cabinets, etc) is to really ruthlessly clean my studio and set it up for maximum utilization as well as aesthetics.  I thought saying it out loud (aka blogging about it) would make it seem more doable but in actuality, I am feeling the panic more acutely!!!!   I  picked it up and it is already organized, and I got a bunch of boxes for the sorting/purging part....then...... I painted this quick acrylic as a reward.  Purging comes next week!  Speaking of next week, if you live in the area, I have a painting class Wednesday night at the Chaffee Downtown...come down and have some fun!
This is Vermont's Open Studio weekend.  Hope everyone has a great time this holiday weekend.  What are you doing?

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By the way, Sunday is the last day to enter my triple painting give away!  This is how:

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